The Watcher of Tokyo 3
by Cloud Dancer1014
Summary: When a supernatural attack leaves a young boy without a guardian again, Xander Harris steps in to help. eight years later, said young boy leaves for Tokyo 3 due to a message from his 'father', saying only "Come" . . . Watch the winds of change blow . . .
1. Chapter 1

I really should have been working on something else, TTMA or SS, but my muse kept coming out with this. I imagined a Saotome Trained Shinji, and suddenly my muse would toss in a vampire and I'd have to clean house. So I got the start of this out, and I'm hoping I can get back to more vital stories.

I own nothing, nil, nada. Don't sue, or you will too! Flames will be used to cook my food. Constructive criticism will be used to improve my stories.

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"Drive, woman, DRIVE!"

Normally, if anyone had said that to Katsuragi Misato, they'd have been beaten within an inch of their life. However, the fact that they were meters away from getting crushed by falling military helicopters and an Angel gave the young boy a pass . . . As long as he didn't do it again.

She glanced over at the Ikari scion sitting beside her. She had seen an old picture of him, only five or six years old, when she was told to pick him up at the train station. He still had short brown hair, though it was a bit shaggier now. His light blue eyes were wide with shock, though she couldn't see a hint of pure terror in them. Misato idly noted that his face was rather bishounen.

What she wasn't expecting was what he was wearing. She had thought that he'd look almost professional, or kind of moody (considering he had lost his mother and had been abandonedcby his father at such an early age.

She wasn't expecting him to be wearing a garish red and blue Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts.

"What the hell are you wearing?" she just had to ask.

The boy shrugged, "It's the traditional outfit of the Harris family in situations like this."

Misato blinked, "Wait, aren't you Ikari Shinji, the Commander's son?"

The boy grimaced, "It's Ikari-Harris Shinji now, and I'd call that bastard Rokubungi from now on around me. Ikari is the name of my mother's clan."

The violet haired woman nodded hesitantly, "I'm guessing you don't like your father much."

"if you mean that I'd like to see him castrated, scalped, tossed in a pot of boiling oil, and then decapitated, then yes, I don't like him."

She couldn't help but snort. "Wow, and Ritsuko said I have issues. . . "

"if you do, then I guess I have the subscription."

Misato giggled at that, "I'm Katsuragi Misato. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Shinji grinned, "Pleasure's all mine. Who's the Gojira imitator back there?"

This time, Misato guffawed. "Oh, Ritz is going to hate you if you say that to her face." Pushing the laughter aside, she told him, "That's an Angel. It's what NERV was commissioned to fight against."

Shinji couldn't help but snort incredulously, "You're kidding, right?"

"Don't ask me, I just call them what the higher-ups call them."

The brunette nodded skeptically, and then turned sound to see what was going on behind them. Noticing how the copters were retreating from the monstrosity, he cursed, and jerked back around to face toward. "Find us some cover NOW! They're dropping an N2 mine!"

"What?" Misato squawked, jerking the wheel to the side. The car drifted to the side, the smell of burnt rubber prevalent in the air. It skidded to a stop behind what was left of a concrete wall as Misato stretched her neck in the air, trying to see what was going on.

Just then, the bomb struck the Angel, erupting in a wave of light and hot air that came their way. Misato tried to dive on top of Shinji, only to find the young man had twisted around and on top of her. Before she could protest, the rush of hurricane force winds hit the barrier, tearing through it and pushing the car into a roll.

After the dust settled, Misato opened her eyes to find Shinji on top of her, grinning sheepishly. Noticing how they were, Misato couldn't help but be a tease, "You sure move fast for a fourteen year old."  
She was pleased to see the boy blush, but was shocked when he retorted, "This, coming from the woman who sent me a cheesecake picture of herself in the mail? If I didn't know any better, I'd worry about my innocence here."

Misato couldn't help but blush at the boy's cocky smirk. This, she definitely didn't expect . . . .

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Half an hour later, the car was on the road again, duck tape holding the front fender on. Shinji had stunned her when he slammed his shoulder into the car and caused it to turn upright. He stunned her even more when he got up under the hood and got to work on fixing the engine.  
Still, nothing was going to fix the damage done at this point.

"Yes, don't worry, his safety is my top priority," Misato said into the cell phone, "Look, can you get a car train ready for us? An express, of course . . . Well I did volunteer to pick him up, so it's only my duty to see that he gets there. See ya!"

Hanging up, the purple haired vixen couldn't help but suppress a sigh _'This stinks! I-I just had this car repaired and it's a total wreck already! Thirty three more payments to go, plus the cost of repairs . . . A-and look! My favorite dress is ruined! RUINED! And I looked so good in it!'_

"Hey Misato-san, how much did that dress cost you again?"

Unthinkingly, she rattled off an estimated price, and then blinked as she realized what had happened. Twisting around, she found the lad texting something into his cell. "How is that still working?"

He didn't look at her, too busy texting, "It's a high grade prototype. An EMP could be dropped on top of us, and it would't do a thing to this baby!" Flipping the phone shut, he turned to her with a smirk. "Let me run by a bank tomorrow, and I'll have your compensation fee for you."

Misato felt her jaw drop, "C-compensation fee?"

Shinji nodded solemnly, "You put your life at risk picking me up, and totaled your car AND your dress in the process. My Dad . . . my adopted father that is . . . gives his . . . employees an allowance for damaged outfits and gear within reasonable limits. Considering how part of my trip here was on the company payroll, I can use it to pay you back."

The NERV officer knew that she shouldn't take it, but all she could do was nod dumbly and mutter, "Thanks."

The brunette boy nodded absentmindedly, and then gestured to the back seat, where a dozen car batteries were sitting, "And just to be sure, is that legal?"

She winced, "Uh, don't worry about it. Um, it's an emergency and we needed a working car, right? Uh, I am a government official after all, so everything is going to be perfectly fine. Okay? Okay!"

"I don't think anyone is going to buy that excuse," Shinji retorted, scowling at the violet maned driver.

"Ah, you're no fun!" Misato pouted.  
"You are a government official! At the very least, use a coverall excuse!" Shinji fired back, "Say that you

were concerned about what the N2 mine might have done to the life expectancy of the batteries. Hell, blame the mechanic who had to rig up your engine if you have to. Just don't try to use government authority as an excuse; nobody ever bought it before, so why would it work now?"

Misato blinked at this, "You know, you've got a point."

"Damn right I do!"

"Still you saying that I can blame you doesn't exactly fill me with confidence in your mechanic skills."  
Shinji just grunted imperiously, "I'll let you get away with doubting my mad mechanic skills just this once, only because you are under a lot of stress. Doubt me again, however, you can forget me paying back for the damages done to your car and dress!"

"Eep! I'm sorry! I'll never doubt you again! Promise!"

Shinji smirked, "Now we're getting somewhere!"

Turning back to the front windshield, he noticed that they had driven into a tunnel, and were approaching two steel doors. Misato pressed a button on a device above her on the adjustable mirror, causing them to open. They drove onto a platform just beyond them, which jolted to the left shortly after the doors slammed shut.

"Hey, do you have the ID that your dad sent you?" Misato asked him.

Shinji pulled the ID card from his pocket, "Yeah, it's the only thing I was able to salvage from the package you sent me."

"Salvage?"

"My adopted father incinerated the note Rokubungi sent me, and Faith-kaa-san kind of took the photo you sent me."

Misato couldn't help but smirk, "Ah, your mommy thought that was too explicit for little Shinji-chan?"

"No, more like she and Dawn-kaa-san wanted to critique it."

"Critique it? Wait, I thought your mother was named Faith?"

"You ever read any of those manga where there are a bunch of girls chasing after this one guy?"

"Yeah, where are you going with this?"

"Ever wonder what would happen if two of those girls ever decided to share?"

Misato was flummoxed, "You mean . . . "

The boy just fidgeted, "Kind of, but not really. See, Dawn-kaa-san and Dad were together when they adopted me. Two years afterwards, my then Aunt Faith kind of had a bad break with her bastard of a lover. She came over for a few months, and got continuously plastered. One night, Dad and Dawn-kaa-san joined her for drinks, the next night, I saw all three of them leave my parent's room. Hasn't stopped yet."  
"You're kidding!"

"I wish," Shinji looked faintly nauseous, "the less I know about my parent's love life, the better. What I know now is bad enough.

Deciding to change the subject, Misato fished out a small book and passed it to him, " Here, read this."

Taking it, Shinji looked at the cover, "NERV, huh? This is the group my Sperm Doner operates, right?"  
Misato grinned as he skimmed through the book, "Yeah, you and I are going to get along fine." Suddenly a glow lit up the car, and Shinji could only whistle as they passed into a humongous cavern, with what looked like a model city hanging on the ceiling way out in the distance. Misato could understand his reaction.

She did something similar herself when she first entered the Geofront.

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"Are we there yet?"

Misato felt a vein on her forehead throb as she lead the way down the hall. Everything was fine for the first five or six minutes, but then they hit the tramway, and he HAD to comment about the draft that raised her skirt to a near obscene level. Then he started asking the cursed question . . . And asking it . . . And asking it . . .

"For the twentieth time, we are not THERE YET!"

"Shinji grinned mischievously, "We're lost, aren't we."

"We aren't lost," Misato snapped back, "do you really want to push my buttons right now?"

"Nah, just warming up for the opening act."

She jerked around to look at him, and noticed him wearing a grin not unlike one she had seen on a wild raccoon. "Wha . . . you were playing with me, weren't you?"

His grin grew into a smirk, "Guilty. Got to be at my worst to give Rokubungi my best."

"Did you have to do that to ME, though?"

"You see anyone else around here?"

Feeling that vein throb again, Misato caught sight of the elevators out of the corner of her eyes. Grabbing Shinji by the arm, she dragged him over to stand in front of them. She hit the button, only to jump in surprise when the elevator opened to present . . .

"Uh, hi there, Ritsuko."

The tall, blonde, brown eyed woman stepped out of the elevator, pressing Misato back as she did so. Opening her mouth to fire a reprimand at her friend, the woman was shocked to hear a loud wolf whistle from her right. Turning, she found . . .

"What the hell are you wearing?"

Shinji grinned, enjoying the usual reaction, "Traditional traveling clothes of my adopted family. Now if I may be so bold, what are YOU wearing? Is that the uniform for the research division here, because if it is, then please, sign me up!"

The woman stepped back, a furious blush on her cheeks. Having just gotten out of working on some submerged piece of machinery, she had only had time to take off her wetsuit and grab a lab coat. She hadn't even buttoned it, leaving it open to showcase the light blue one piece swimsuit she had been wearing beneath the wetsuit. It was of modest cut, but suddenly it seemed to be tightly hugging her hips and bust.

Misato couldn't help but giggle at her friend's awkward surprise, "Shinji, I'd like you to meet Doctor Akagi Ritsuko. Ritsuko, may I present Ikari-Harris Shinji."

Shinji took the stunned doctor's hand, brushing her knuckles with his thumb as he did so. Bringing it to his lips, he murmured, "Charmed, I'm sure."

Realizing just how badly she was blushing, she tried to get herself back under control, mentally scolding herself for even being slightly attracted to the fourteen year old boy in front of her.

Misato grinned and nudged her friend in the side. "Nothing like his father, isn't he?" she asked, chuckling.

Ritsuko huffed at her, "You do know that you're running late, right?"

Misato winced, about to apologize when Shinji took over, "We're sorry about that, but the map we had was of horrible quality, and we were forced to take the scenic route, as it were."

"Both women blinked, "Um Shinji, what's with the British accent?" Misato asked.

Shinji grinned impishly, "My adopted grandfather and several of my adopted uncles are from England, and I've picked up a few things from them, it seems." He then stepped into the elevator, "So are we going down? The sooner we get where we are going, the sooner I can give Rokubungi those hernias I owe him!"

Ritsuko could only glance over at her violet haired friend, who giggled and stepped close to her, "Yes, that is the Third Child. Now shall we go, or should we just stand around and gossip like a bunch of old maids, hm?"

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Shinji gave the two older women only token attention as he skimmed through the handbook. Both women were talking business, mentioning things like the Marduk Report, Unit One, and B type Equipment. He chuckled at the joke hidden in the phrase 'Oh-Nine System, ignoring the odd look both women gave him as he did so.

He continued to read the book as they road across a small sea of reddish liquid, only looking up as they walked into a dark room. As the doors closed behind them, Shinji tensed, ready to fight his way out if necessary, only for the lights to turn on. Looking forward, he marveled at the gigantic, demonic visage of . . .

"It's a giant robot," he gasped.

"This is man's ultimate fighting machine," Ritsuko proudly proclaimed, "the synthetic life form known as 'Evangelion, Unit 01. Built here in secret, it is mankind's last hope!"

"Dramatic much?" Shinji quipped, causing the scientist to frown at him. However, his next actions caused her to greatly raise her opinion of the boy.

Stepping closer to the purple mechanical monstrosity, Shinji squinted at it, and frowned, "Wait, I think I remember this . . . my mother was working on this thing before she-"

"Correct."

At the cold word, Shinji twisted around, a sudden snarl on his lips, "Rokubungi." The sudden animalistic expression on his face made Ritsuko and Misato gasp. He didn't notice though, his entire attention taken up by the balcony above them.

There, Commander Ikari Gendo frowned down at them. He recognized the boy's visage, but the expression on it was alien to his expectations. "What are you wearing?"

"An outfit specially designed to raise the blood pressure of unruly assholes," Shinji retorted at the man, a feral smirk on his lips, "now what the fuck did you call me here for?"

The older man analyzed the boy. He was meant to be weak, easily moldable. He wasn't meant to be staring him down with a look of barely restrained rage in his eyes.

Then again, he wasn't meant to recognize Unit 01 for what it was, either.

Gendo turned his gaze towards Ritsuko and Misato, "We're moving out."

Misato jerked back, "Moving out? But Unit 00 is still in cryostasis!" She then gasped, "Wait a minute, you're gonna use Unit 01?"

"There's no other way," Ritsuko softly, solemnly replied.

"Now wait, Rei can't do it yet, can she? We don't have a pilot!"

"We just received one."

A look of mild horror shot across Misato's face, "You're serious?"

"Hold on a minute!" The trio of adults looked down at Shinji, "You expect me to pilot a barely successfully tested piece of machinery to destroy a giant monster that is terrorizing the city?" Glaring up at Gendo, he snarled, "Can I have some of what you're smoking, please? Must be some real good shit!"  
He then jabbed a finger at Ritsuko, "You're hair color must have come from a bottle, am I right?" As Ritsuko gasped in shock and outrage, he continued to rant, "Has the dye rotted your brain or something? You want a fourteen year old to pilot something that has a one in ten billion chance of working against Gojira's cousin out there? Surely you have somebody trained to do this! Anyone who knows how to pilot this monster would do a hundred times better than I would, no matter how special you think I am!"

As Shinji continued to rant and rave against the insanities of the people in charge, he barely noticed Gendo saying to "Send for the spare." he was getting to the point where Gendo should check for hernias by sticking his head up his ass when the doors opened again. Jerking around, expecting Security, he instead found three medics and a gurney.  
As his eyes settled on the gurney, his heart stopped. He recalled the moment where he had just gotten

off the train, and noticed an apparition a few yards away from him. At the time, he had thought it was just a lost soul who had died in the wreckage, but she was definitely alive . . . Though for how much longer, he couldn't say.

Her short hair was sky blue, skin pale white and her eyes blood red, but she wasn't outfitted in the school uniform her ghostly double wore. Instead, she wore some kind of sleeveless, blue and white skintight jumpsuit. Bandages were wrapped around her arms, around her chest under the suit, and over her right eye. An IV was attached to her left arm.

Shinji stared at the girl's face as she was rolled in. It was impassive, emotionless. When the medics helped her to sit up, he could read the intense pain she must have felt in every movement. It must have been pure agony, and as he watched her sit there, panting and trying not to sob from the intense pain, he felt a white hot fury shoot through him.

Somebody was going to pay for this.

Suddenly, the room shook. Rubble fell from the ceiling and the girl's bed toppled over, spilling her from where she rested. And Misato and Ritsuko could only gawk as Shinji MOVED.

One moment, Rei was about to land on the ground, the next, Shinji had slid under her arms out to catch her. One hand wrapping around her chest, the other around her hips, he cradled her and did his best to keep her from gaining any more damage. A split second later, he braced himself, and both women could only scream in terror as the overhead lights fell right above them, threatening to crush them where they huddled.

That was when the hand of the behemoth known as Unit 01 rose from the pool of red liquid and knocked them away. Shinji vaguely noted as one practically shattered against a transparent wall right in front of Gendo. He barely recognized the scientist shout how something was impossible, or how Misato mentioned how the giant robot was protecting him.

No, his pure, unfettered attention was focused on the girl in his arms, writhing in sheer agony, trying not to faint. Ignoring the wetness on his hands, which he recognized as fresh blood, he gently stroked her hair, causing the girl to open her eyes up in surprise. He noted how she seemed to marvel at his face for some reason as he continued to stroke her hair. Gently, he leaned down, and she could barely hear his whisper, "Rest, you are safe now. _**Dormìr**_."

The girl fell in, losing consciousness in his arms. He continued to stroke her hair as he got up, gave the gurney a hard kick to upright it, and then set her down on it. He smiled at the peaceful look on her face, and then turned around to face the adults. To Ritsuko, he ordered, "Get this thing programmed for me. I'm going in."

He then turned to face his father and both women gawker as they saw Gendo, a man who stood impassive even when debris was crashing against his shield, flinch.

Then again, if the young man had given them the look of pure, barely restrained rage that he had given the Commander, they'd have to get a fresh pair of underwear. His voice, colder than ice, rang through the room, "After this is all over, I'm coming for you Old Man. You will regret the day you left me behind. When I'm done with you, you'll wish that you were as dead as Kuwabashi-sensei, God rest his soul!"  
He then marched up to Ritsuko and Misato and asked, "So how do I get in this thing, anyways?"

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: Shinji wakes up and reviews his fight with the Angels. Misato and Ritsuko take a look back and realize that they may not be on the right side of this . . . or in the scientist's case, that she may be truly damned . . . then, Shinji moves in with Misato and makes a call for his stuff . . . and finds out that the Angels aren't the only things that are invading Tokyo-3. That and a Slayer is all coming up!


	2. Chapter 2

So why am I working on this when I could be working on other things, like The Trouble With Past Lives?

For one thing, I'm trapped in a corner on that story. I know what happens during the arc, but the enemy ninja team from Mizu is giving me some issues. For one thing, not much is mentioned about the clans there. They have no bloodlines (they killed them all), but they supposedly very bloodthirsty. That's about it. If someone can write me up a few suggestions on chunin level ninja, I'd appreciate it. The only requirements I have is that one has to be a long range weapon user.

The second reason is that I need more of a background for Shinji Saotome. By manipulating the characters this early in the game, it gives me a chance to take a look at what really makes these characters. Yes, Shinji is very different here, but Misato, Ritsuko, and Hikari are all starting off the same. It will be some time before I get to Asuka, but she will be much tamer than in canon. Why is what you'll just have to find out . . .

Third . . . um, I think my muse might be turning into a bondage slut. Whenever I try to prod and kick her into working, she drops to the ground and begs me to tie her up, break out the nipple clamps, and starting beating her with a cat o' nine tails. I don't know where she is getting this stuff, but I'm starting to get really scared here.

I'll do what I can to update, but it looks like the main focus will be Saotome Shinji, The Martial Artist and the Great Detective, and this . . . I may break my cardinal rule and make this into a full-fledged story, but I do promise that I will finish what I started . . . or at least find a coauthor that will take some of the heat off of me.

I own nothing but Shinji's childhood with Xander, Dawn, Faith, and their Slayers. The details come from my muse . . . who is currently toying with something I really don't want to think about. Brain bleach, anyone?

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Akagi Ritsuko stared through the window, deep in thought. On the other side of the glass lay the Third Child, unconscious and lying in a medical bed.

She never thought that anyone would have affected her like this. Indeed, she prided herself on being calm, cool, collected . . .

And yet, this brave young man had found a crack in her armor, and had hammered it open . . . and she had let him get hurt, and nearly killed . . .

She shuddered again, trying to ignore the bad aftertaste of the swill NERV called coffee. Dark circles surrounded her eyes; it was hard to sleep when her dreams brought up the fact that she had sent the boy off to fight an Angel with no weapons and no training.

If the Commander's scenario had worked as it should, she wouldn't have felt much guilt. By all estimates, he'd only be out for six to eight hours . . . It was passing the fifty hour mark, and the feeling of wrongness just kept growing . . .

_/FLASHBACK: TWO DAYS AGO\\\_

Shinji stomped his way over to the tampon-shaped tube that would serve as his cockpit. Ritsuko walked after him, stewing slightly. She was ill pleased with the young man's comment about her hair.

Yes, she did dye her hair. With a mother like hers, who could blame her for trying to distance herself from her. It was always a sore point of hers, to be compared to her mother.

Her heart froze, however, when the young man turned to her, eyes cold and serious, and asked, "So where's the self-destruct button on this thing?"

It felt like it took hours for her to find her voice, "Come again?"

His eyes bore into hers, and for a moment, it wasn't a short, fourteen year old boy in front of her, but a soldier, ready to face death head on.

Then he smirked, and if it wasn't for the fact that his eyes hadn't changed, she would have passed it off as a joke, "I'm not good with math, so on the very great possibility that this isn't the one in a million chance, I'd like to take my killer down with me."

Her mouth opened, but no words came to her. Instead the cold voice of the commander rang out from his perch behind her, "There will be no need for the self-destruct function."

The smirk of the young man in front of her turned into a bittersweet grin, and she could here the snarl in his voice, "What, can't I at least choose HOW I kick the bucket? Bad enough that you already chose Mom's tomb as the place." He then laughed, the bitter tone of it making the faux blondes stomach turn, "I for one would prefer a fiery death . . . no need for a funeral that way."

With that said, he immediately pivoted on his feet, and then climbed into the Plug.

_/END FLASHBACK\\\_

Ritsuko sighed tiredly, hearing the tell-tale sound of Misato walking up from behind her. "You know, standing here all day and night isn't going to help him."

She snorted at the violet haired vixen beside her, "Like you're one to talk."

Indeed, Misato had only left HQ to feed her pet penguin. She slept in her office, ate the barely passable slop from the cafeteria, and survived on the mud the Commander mockingly called coffee. In fact, the only reason Ritsuko would actually leave her vigil to take a shower was because she had to drag her best friend into one.

Ikari Gendo had come down only once to drive the blonde back to work, only to be chased off, the women's accusing glares reminding him all to well of the wellspring of hate within his son's bright blue eyes.

And so the women stood there, watching and drowning in their own guilt.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

He stood there, facing a monstrosity, it's beaklike mask and glowing eyes staring impassively at him. Having been doused in a disgusting liquid and being shot up through a chute, the boy wasn't in a good mood.

"Alright Shinji, all you need to do is take a step forward," NERV's Head Scientist told him over the radio.

He scoffed, "First you tell me all I have to do is sit in the giant robot, then you try to drown me in purified blood without warning, and now you want me to step forward? What's next, you going to ask me to dance the Macarena?"

"Oh suck it up! You're a boy, aren't you?" Misato snapped, vaguely annoyed at his complaints.

He was not amused, "I am also human, not a vampire. I have no desire to have to bath in O-negative blood, thank you very much."

The irritation in his eyes vanished as he turned to face the monster in front of him. The look on his face was one of solemnity, like the look of the lone soldier holding the line.

"So where's the weapons system? Or better yet, the self-destruct button?" he called out over the radio, dead serious.

The crew froze, realizing that none of the weapons that had been designed for Eva had been installed in Unit 01. Ritsuko glanced back to find the commander choking on his own saliva. Before she could think of a reply, she heard Misato's yell next to her ear, Shinji, MOVE!"

The boy dodged just in time to miss the monster's lunge, sprawling sloppily onto the ground. He attempted to get up off the ground, but the beast slammed into him, grabbing Eva 01's arm and twisting it. The tech team scrambled to dampen the pain flowing into the pilot's brain, only to cheer when the robot slammed his head back, knocking the Angel backwards, breaking the giant robot's arm in the process.

However, Shinji was unable to maneuver his Eva up in time to dodge the energy blast that the Angel unleashed, knocking him several kilometers away. By the time he managed to clear the spots from his vision, the Angel had grabbed his Eva's head. A lance of bright light glowed from behind it's elbow, only to slam down, smashing into the Eva's forehead, causing a wave of phantom pain in his forehead. It repeated, over and over and over again, until . . .

The sudden, excruciating phantom pain to his forehead caused him to wake up, panting and sweating. He sat up quickly, only for a wave of dizziness to nearly knock him off the bed.

Suddenly, gentle hands caught him, helping him to lie back down. As his vision cleared, he looked up into deep, feminine brown eyes framed by messy brown hair. "Am I in heaven?"

The young woman smiled softly, "No, you're in NERV medical."

The teenage boy gave a weak smile, "A pity, 'cause you really do look like an angel."

"Ah . . ." the woman blushed brilliantly, "Well, um . . . eep!"

The Third Child chuckled at her reaction, only to perk up as he heard a second chuckle coming from the doorway.

There stood Doctor Akagi Ritsuko, grinning tiredly at the bed; Shinji couldn't help but notice the circles under her eyes and the fact that her hair, while freshly washed, was not properly brushed.

"Nice to see you in a good mood, Shinji-san," the older woman said, walking in.

"Well, aside from the fact that it feels like I'm still recovering from a concussion, I'm feeling pretty good," he replied, settling down onto the pillow.

Ritsuko spared a glance at the other flustered woman in the room, "I see you've already met my assistant, Ibuki Maya, though I do hope you don't traumatized her too badly."

Maya squeaked, her blush growing to cover her entire face, "S-sempai!"

The boy just laughed, "I aim to please." He then reached up and grabbed the blushing girl's hand, "The name's Ikari-Harris Shinji, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Ibuki-chan." That said, he gently brought the hand up and brushed it against his lips.

Ritsuko took pity on her poor assistant, "Maya, I need the reports from the battle with the Third Angel. Could you go get them for me, please?"

The girl nodded eagerly, running out of the room, and almost running over Misato. The violet maned woman looked down the hall after the fleeing techie, then walked into the room, "Now what was that about?"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"I'm alright! For the last time, there is no need to send a rescue party!" Shinji yelled over the phone.

He had taken a short nap to regain his mental balance, and then found his cell phone amongst his personal items. The hall was deserted, so he left his room to maintain at least some level of privacy.

And then, he phoned home.

"Look Dad, there is some kind of apocalyptic scenario going down here, and I'm caught right in the middle of it . . . No, I can't leave it to the professionals, they're run by my Sperm Doner . . . apparently the only other pilot they have is seriously injured, so I'm it. As soon as I get an address, I need you to ship my gear over . . . Faith-kaa-san got some new additions to my armory? Wow, thank her for me, will you?"

His smile dropped at what he heard next. "Wait, so a Slayer awoke in Tokyo-3? So who . . . Oh, one of Summer's girls." He nodded grimly, "So who're you sending?"

His jaw dropped in shock, "You can't get anyone in? But what about . . . Wait, so SHE can't get anyone in either? Why . . . the Supernatural Committee on the UN is blocking you? But the deal was . . . "

After a few more minutes of explanation, he blinked, "So wait, you want ME to take care of her? Wow, that's . . . He swallowed his excitement, "I won't let you down, sir . . . You've sent her info to my Inbox? Good."

He fidgeted a bit, and heard footsteps coming down the hall, "Someone's coming. See if you can find any prophecies concerning giant Angels or Messengers, or something. Give Faith-kaa-san, Dawn-kaa-san, and the girls my regards. Later."

He hung up just in time to see a gurney turn the corner, the mysterious être lying on it. Her gown and bandages had been cleaned. As she was rolled by, the junior Scoobie gave her a kind smile and a wave. He noticed a flicker of curiosity in her eyes, but that was it.

He then walked back into his room, waiting for someone to sign him out.

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It didn't take long for Misato to fill out the paperwork and check him out of NERV Central Hospital. The violet maned woman was chipper, for a good reason. "I already have it set up with NERV Residence Registration. It's just me and PenPen of course, so there won't be any problems."

Shinji nodded at the woman in amusement. He had no problems with living on his own, but after spending the last nine years in the Residential Center of The Janna Kalderash Center for Young Ladies, it would not have been a pleasant adjustment. And to be honest, Misato seemed to really want him to stay with her. "You know, I'm surprised that Dr Akagi was willing to let this happen."

Misato snorted, "Hey, Ritsuko may be a bit of a stick in the mud, but when she heard that the Commander wasn't going to let you stay with him, she was seriously considering letting you stay with her."

"I'm not too surprised about that. I'm surprised that she was willing to let me stay with you!"

She winced, and then chuckled sheepishly, "Well, all she has was a spare couch, and I have plenty of room at my place . . ."

"You joked about seducing me, didn't you?" Misato nearly tripped over her own two feet, stumbling around to look at him.

"How'd you know about that?"

Shinji was nonplussed, "Before you signed me out I noticed her muttering about perverted drunkards who should be more professional. As the only flirtatious older woman here, I immediately thought of you."

Misato scowled at her faux blonde friend, but was stunned speechless when the boy added with a roguish smirk, "Besides, shouldn't she be more concerned with me seducing you?"

It took her brain a bit to process the fact that, yes, the boy was flirting with her at a level beyond where most fourteen year old boys could manage, and that she should say something, "What makes you think you could manage that?"

He waggled his eyes, "Oh, you'd be surprised at what I could do."

As they walked up to the elevator doors, they opened to present the Commander, sternly glaring forward. Misato stiffened, unwilling to present an unseemly picture in the eyes of the Ice King of Tokyo 3. Shinji however . . .

He lunged forward, snapping a right front kick into Gendo's testicles. The man crumpled forward, eyes crossed, only to meet Shinji's left palm, breaking his nose. The man fell back against the door in a tremendous amount of pain.

As Misato gaped at the audacity of the Third Child, Shinji stepped behind Rokubungi Gendo, rolled him out of the elevator, and then motioned for her to come in. As she did so, still shell shocked, she heard him mutter, "Street fighter my ass!"

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He gaped at the room in dawning horror, unbelievingly what his eyes were telling him, "What the bloody hell happened in here?"

"Well," Misato sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, "I just recently moved in myself, and I haven't had much of a chance to unpack . . . "

The room looked like a localized hurricane visited for a week. Empty beer cans and empty bottles of alcohol covered every surface. Boxes and bags of garbage covered where the floor met the wall, and junk food and takeout boxes covered what was left. Shinji carefully made his way to the kitchen, only to find two fridges, more garbage and takeout boxes . . . And a pair of panties?

He was a fourteen year old boy, so despite the fact that he wasn't sure he wanted to know, his imagination brought up possibilities anyways.

"Hey," Misato peeked around the corner, showcasing a bare shoulder that had the boy's eyes raised, "could you put the food in the fridge please?"

As he opened the first fridge, he found three drawers, one full of junk food, another of ice, and the third had . . . Beer, fifty four gallons of it.

"Why the hell are you drinking Yesibu?"

And not the good kind, either.

Misato swung back around to look at him, "Huh? Oh, sometimes I just need to unwind a bit, ya' know?"

He rolled his eyes. "I can get that. But why Yesibu? That stuff ain't worth shit!"

"What would you know of good beer?" she snorted.

"Dad bar tends on his free time, and he refuses to even serve it to his enemies," Shinji retorted, "He says that the only people who drink Yesibu are cheap drunks and poor college students."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Excuse me?" She stomped out from around the corner, annoyed that some boy was insulting her favorite source of enjoyment. "I've used Yesibu ever since college, and . . ."

"My point!" Shinji yelped, blushing for some reason, "My mothers drink Asahi' but wouldn't even use this shite to make a bonfire! Have you even tried anything else?"

She blinked, a bit off kilter, "Well, not really . . . I haven't had the nice paychecks from NERV for that long, so . . . "

He rolled his eyes, his face still read and focused on her face, for reasons she wasn't quite sure of, "Then next time you go out shopping, grab some Asahi or Kirin, and see how you like it. And . . . you could finish getting dressed, you know."

Misato blinked and then took a look at herself. In her rush to confront the blasphemer of beer, she had neglected to finish getting dressed. Her short Jean shorts were on, but they were unbuttoned at the top, showcasing a hint of violet pubic hair.

And she had totally forgotten to put a top on.

She shrieked, wrapping her arms around her naked chest and ducked back around the corner, barely noting how Shinji had turned his head away.

As she made her escape, Shinji let a small, sheepish grin loose. While he did his best to look away from the danger zones, it was kind of hard not to remember the scenery.

His stay was definitely going to be interesting . . .

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Dinner started off rather sedately, Misato having put on a yellow tank top. She chugged her beer, but didn't do much else but drink and eat. The food was lackluster at best, being from the freezer section of the grocery.

Finally, he couldn't stand the silence any longer, "You're not still miffed about walking out half naked, are you?"

She sputtered, spilling her beer, and he couldn't help but laugh, "Look, while I could say I didn't see anything, that would be a lie. I tried not to see much, but while I saw enough to say that you looked great, yours were not the first pair of breasts I've seen."

She blushed, trying to get herself back together. Sure, she had no problems flirting, and she did have a bit of an exhibitionist streak, but flashing a young teen over an argument concerning beer was not a good thing. Still, he did give her some ammo to use. "You sure do seem to move fast then."

He grinned, glad to have a good old fashioned conversation going again, "My dad runs a girl's school in Italy, and living there has been very eventful."

She cocked her head in confusion, "Doesn't the headmaster usually have his own housing or something?"

"We don't have much space for housing, so we had our own floor above where everyone else slept, complete with kitchen and working bathroom. Before Faith-kaa-san joined our odd little family, I stayed there with Dad and Dawn-kaa-san. After she moved in . . . " Here he grimaced, turning slightly green, "well, after the third time I caught them having sex on the kitchen table, I decided to move downstairs to one of the open rooms."

Misato snorted, taking another swig of beer, "That sucks. Two months before my folks split up, I caught them on the living room couch doing that."

They chuckled, sharing in the remembered trauma of such events. "Anyways," he continued, "the girls had no problems with an eight year old boy joining them, I mean I was way too young to be prevuing at girls. So after a couple of weeks, some of them got comfortable enough to return to their normal sleeping habits."

"Yeah, and?"

"To put it bluntly," Shinji said in his British accent, "five of the girls slept in the nude, none of them were morning people, and one of them sleepwalked."

Misato burst out laughing, finally getting the punchline; Shinji chuckled sheepishly along with her, "It got rocky again after I joined the bathroom cue only to have Jessica get behind me in her birthday suit, but after a while, it got to the point where nobody even bothered being embarrassed about a brat catching them in their panties and nothing else. Whenever a new girl came in, all anyone would say was 'Oh, that's just Shinji!"

"You ever consider moving back to your parent's suite?" she asked, stifling her giggles.

"Once, and after going upstairs to talk to Dad about it and catching both my mothers frog tied in the living room, Dad wearing leather pants and holding a whip, I never thought of it again."

She rolled on the floor, laughing her ass off at his solemn reply. He chuckled along with her, enjoying how her shorts showcased her hips and shapely rear.

Finally, she climbed up, out of breath, so he finished, picking up his fork while he was at it, "To this day, only the girls around my age wear pajamas. I've gotten the Talk from Dad, and I wouldn't force myself on anyone if my life depended on it, but even when I discovered my hormones, they still continued to walk around half dressed or completely naked in the mornings. I'm not completely desensitized to it yet, but when I say I didn't look, I didn't look."

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She wasn't planning on getting a look or anything. She wasn't a shotacon or anything like that, but Shinji DID get a good look at her, so collecting a bit of teasing material wasn't a bad thing. especially since PenPen, her warm water penguin, was still in the bathroom as he went to take a shower.

Plus she was pretty sure he cheated on Rock Paper Scissors. How else would she end up with all of the cleaning slots and half of the breakfast ones?

As the boy entered the bathroom, she creeped around to lean near the wall, expecting him to rush out, stark naked, putting things back on an even keel. What she instead heard was-

"What the bloody Hell are you doing in here?"

"Wark!"

"You live here with Misato? She invited me to stay with her for the foreseeable future. Name's Ikari-Harris Shinji."

"Wark! Wark Wark Wark?"

Yeah, I've already tried her rendition of cooking, so I've decided to take over cooking dinner. Might get some better beer too."

"Wark Wark!"

"Really? Dawn-kaa-san says it tastes like horse piss. Anyways, is it all right if I take the shower now? It's been a long day, and I'd like to clean up before I go to bed."

"Wark."

The door opened, expelling the towel clad penguin from the bathroom. The flightless bird passed her, but she didn't notice. Five minutes later, she was still standing there, her jaw firmly planted on the floor.

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IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: Shinji trains. Shinji goes to school. Gendo sulks in his office with a bag of ice nestled between his legs, waiting for his other testicle to drop . . . oh and we meet our Slayer!


	3. Chapter 3

Back on the horse and with another chapter done! Sorry for the delay, but I have a decent sized volley coming this time around. Grad school sucks, and its left me with a bunch of unfinished chapters that I have only found a break to finish now. That, and my muse has turned to the darkside of S&M, and I can't do anything to goad her into doing something productive without her spazzing out and either deluging me with plot bunnies, or with scenes that require brain bleach to get rid of.

The scene with Hikari was kind of rough, I'll admit. It was hard to get her to react how I wanted, and I'm not sure that it came out right. Still, I'll try and do better if I can in the next chapter.

If this seems a bit short, yeah, my muse stopped a bit earlier in the chapter. However, it is a great place to end at, ne?

Addendum: In the past two months, I broke my collarbone, made it through my first year of Pharmacy school by the skin of my teeth, helped my mother move stuff out of my dead grandmother's place, went to my brother's graduation, and volunteered for VBS. Rough two months, I know. This should be one of four chapters that I'm spitting out all at once, two of them being things that I wrote up just to get rid of a thread. I'm working on more as we speak, but life has a habit of getting in my way, and my muse's fetishes keep getting weirder and more traumatic. I promise I will do what I can though.

And for the record: I own nothing!

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She stared at the screen in horror, watching the Third Child's head lull as the Angel continued it's assault. The boy had already fallen unconscious, his face showing how much pain he was still in.

"There's a crack on the front of the braincase!" she heard Maya yell.

"The armor can't take much more!" Ritsuko replied, also worried.

Suddenly, the Angel's lance speared right through the Eva's head, slamming the purple giant back against a skyscraper while it was at it. It's massive head hung limp, spewing blood Iike fluid from the crown and back of it's head.

"The head is damaged! Extent damage unknown!"

"The control nerves are breaking off!"

"We're not getting any readings of the pilot!"

"Misato!" she jerked around to glare at the faux blonde, but she knew what was coming.

"We've got no choice! Abort the operation, we've got to rescue the pilot! Eject the entry plug!"

"We can't!" Maya yelled back, the pressure getting to her, "It's completely out of control!"

"What did you say?" It was then that she became aware of a low growl over the speakers. At first she thought it was static, but as it got louder she began to think otherwise. Suddenly, the screen showing the satellite image of the Eva showed it's eyes light up and it's mouth open.

"The Eva is reactivating!"

"I don't believe it! It can't be!" Maya yelled, stunned.

"My God," she gasped, a chill running down her back.

She only had time to hear Ritsuko's quiet whisper of "Berserker," before the Violet Behemoth roared, deafening everyone.

Eva 01 lunged at the Angel, running fast and low to the ground. Before the giant creature could react, the Eva slammed into it with enough force to knock it back several kilometers. The purple machine roared again, throwing a punch at the Angel, only for a hexagonal field of energy to block it.

Misato was aware of how everyone was trying to yell at once, but she honestly couldn't hear a thing; their connection to the third child at allowed the roar into the command center, temporarily deafening everyone inside.

It was then that the Eva held it's broken arm up, healing the wound in seconds. However, that was not the main shocker. No, it was how the Eva's hand glowed with energy that stunned them all.

It slashed through the AT Field like it was butter, slicing the Angel's core while it was at it. It followed through with a side kick, which raised cracks in the red orb and knocked the giant back.

As the Eva lunged at the beast's core, spearing it through with it's other, light covered hand, the Angel made it's last move. Shifting it's form into a gelatinous ball, it tried to self-distrust. The Eva, sensing this, leapt into the air. The resulting explosion lit up the sky, knocking the satellite feed off.

Minutes later, as the video screens cleared, Misato saw an image that caused her to wonder just what Evangelion was.

It stood there, armor blasted off, roaring it's fury to the heavens. Two white pinpricks of light marking where it's eyes were. Those eyes . . .

Misato awoke, barely stifling her scream of terror. Even now, Ritsuko had yet to come up with a reason for the Eva's bestial reaction. In theory, the doctor had told her, an Eva's Berserker state was supposed to be an extension of pure human rage and power. It wasn't supposed to react like an animal.

What was even worse was the toll it took on Shinji. The poor boy was unconscious when they retrieved him, and stayed that way for nearly there days!

The boy had shown no signs of mental trauma, and he bounced back pretty quickly. Still, no one in the Command Center could shake the image of raw power that the Eva had presented to them.

Smelling the sweet scent of pancakes, the violet maned woman shook the nightmare off and started getting dressed. If you could say one thing about Ikari-Harris Shinji, it's that he makes a meal fit for royalty!

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"Good morning Shinji, how's it going?"

The Third Child rolled his eyes, "Well gee, I'm sitting in a tampon shaped tube filled with hyper-oxygenated Type O blood, wearing what amounts to a padded leotard, and I skipped breakfast. How do you think it's going?"

The faux blonde felt her eyebrow twitch, "It is LCL, not blood. It shouldn't even taste like blood!"

The adopted Harris snorted, "I beg to differ. Take it from someone who has trouble telling when his adopted Uncle has left his surplus supply of blood in sterilized gatorade bottles."

Maya, who was monitoring the VR test, felt her stomach roll, "Y-you mean you've actually drank blood?"

"I don't drink it," the boy sighed, "I just have problems telling the difference between blood, tomato juice, and red Gatorade until just before I spit it out."

"So when you say it tastes like Type O blood . . . " Ritsuko asked, despite her growing sense of disgust.

"I mean it tastes like the time my Uncle collected too much Type O blood for his medical tests, and decided to store the excess in several bottles he had sanitized," he growled, "And I'm not the only one who has learned to differentiate Blood Types by taste. So can we please get on with this?"

Ritsuko opened her mouth, but was forced to close it several seconds later when nothing came out. She repeated the process several times before she managed to ask, "Have you managed to memorize the positions of all the Eva emergency locations?"

Judging from Shinji's snicker and Maya's wince, she didn't manage to say it without a stutter.

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"So all we've really got is a giant rifle and a giant safety knife?"

Ritsuko winced at the dry tone. It had been half an hour since the test ended, but the Third Child had been less than impressed by the basic Eva equipment. In fact, instead of washing off the LCL, he came straight up to the observation deck to grill her on the Eva's parameters and it's basic equipment, things that weren't exactly in the manual.

Maya cut in, "Unit 01 is only the prototype. Unit 02 has some more weapons that were specially designed for it, but we are still limited in regards to weaponry and armament. The knives, for example, have a relatively small power cell that gives it the ability to vibrate, increasing it's damage potential. The research department is still working on infusing that with a larger blade, but their still in the pre-experimental phase right now. Something about making it easy for pilots with little to no skills in swordsmanship to use."

"Pardon?"

Ritsuko took up the briefing, " Ayanami has had extensive training in hand to hand combat, but the only weapons training she has had was with the Bo staff. The Second Child, Pilot Sohryu, has also had some hand to hand training, but her tutors have focused more on strategy, tactics, and advanced Eva Piloting. Whereas you-"

"Have two weapons fanatics as adopted parents," The Ikari scion deadpanned.

The two scientists barely had time to catch themselves before face-faulting, "Huh?" Ritsuko gasped, stunned.

Shinji only rolled his eyes, "Dad-not Rokubungi, but the man who took me in as his own son-is a bit of a gun fanatic. You name it, he can shoot it! Why else could I have done so well on your virtual firing range?"

"To be honest," Maya supplied weakly, "we were kind of assuming that had to do with the relationship between teens and video games."

The boy snorted, "Nah, I suck at those things; keep getting my ass handed to me by my housemates. Dad just took me out hunting a lot." Left unsaid was that they spend more time shooting at the undead and the supernatural than any wildlife.

Ritsuko, having already heard from Misato about Shinji's odd home life, put two and two together, "So one of your mothers knows how to use a sword?"

"It would be safer to say that Faith-kaa-chan is more of a weapons master than a simple sword expert," the boy said, ignoring Maya's confused look. "Daggers, swords, crossbows, axes, maces . . . You name it, she can use it! She collects them like most kids, collect cards. Hell, she even got me into it!"

"You . . . collect weapons?" Maya asked, finally getting a grasp on what he was saying.

"My collection should be here in two days. If you want to see it, drop by Misato's place some time. I'll even cook you dinner!"

"So what you're saying is that you know how to wield a sword?" Ritsuko cut in before her assistant could be made to blush a deeper shade of red.

"Yep," the boy said proudly, "Give me a month with Ayanami and Sohryu, and I can teach them how to swing a sword like an intermediate. Give me two bokken, and I can even do it without hurting them too badly!"

He snickered at their horror filled looks, "Relax. The way I learned how to fight was more hands on than anything else. Faith-kaa-chan is an expert swordsman, so my first real lesson was against her, my wooden training sword against her steel sword. Only got one small cut and a bunch of bruises, and she wasn't even sweating!" He grinned ruefully at the memory, "The cut was more an accident on my part than anything else, and she nearly freaked. Dawn-kaa-chan had to slap her just to keep me from being carried into the emergency room!"

"Anyways, I'm not sure about Ayanami-San, but I'm sure a guy like Sohryu should be able to take a hit, right?" Shinji asked, then blinked at the older women as they shifted around uncomfortably. "She's a chick, isn't she?" When they nodded, he sighed, "Well, I'm not one to complain about being surrounded by pretty girls. Still, give me a few weeks and they'll be decent enough to swing a sword."

"We'll take that into consideration," Ritsuko dryly replied. "In the meantime, shouldn't you wash off the LCL? It's harder to wash off when it dries."

"Meh, can't be as bad as some of the stuff I've had to wash off," the boy muttered, "Just send me some info on the sword you guys are working on; I'll need to find a few practice swords of the same design so I can train the girls."

He then bowed foppishly to both women, turned around, and left.

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Horaki Hikari didn't feel like going to school that day. Normally, the girl would be excited to show up, as not only was school important, she was also the Class President. It was her duty to show up.

However, for the past week and a half, something strange had been happening to her. Suddenly, she was a lot stronger and faster, and she kept breaking things and tripping over her own feet. Her older sister just claimed she was having a growth spurt, but shouldn't that involve, you know, growing?

Then there were the dreams, or nightmares, to be exact. Monsters with horrific, wrinkled faces and yellow eyes. Shadowy beings that preyed on your darkest fears. Things with too many tentacles for comfort. Every night, they stormed into her mind and caused her to wake up, crying in terror. She refused to tell her family of them.

Then there were the others. Faceless girls who fought and died against these beings, often in rather horrific ways. Then there were the victors, girls who won the fight, only to wade back into battle again.

Finally, there were the non-female fighters. A redheaded girl who directed waves of power. An older man who often read from ancient tomes. A brunette girl who glowed green. And two men, one older and Caucasian, the other Asian and around her age, who seemed to shine with an inner light.

Finally, there were two of the warrior girls, one short and blonde, the other tall and sultry, who reeked of power and strength. On different sides they stood, one dark and the other light, but both carved through the hordes of evil monsters like knives through butter.

She was frankly terrified of what was going on.

"Hey Horaki, the Principal wants to see you in his office. You got a new kid," Shigure Sosuke, the class president of 3B called out to her. .Nodding absently, the brunette walked quickly up to the main office. Opening the door, she opened her mouth to announce herself as was befitting her position . . . And froze, a pit of fear climbing into her chest.

Before her stood a moderately tall Japanese boy, wearing the school uniform, white shirt and black slacks. His short brown hair was spiked, and his bright blue eyes seemed to shine.

He looked almost exactly like the boy in her dreams.

"Horaki-San?" Hikari jumped, realizing that the Principal was trying to get her attention. Blushing horribly, she tried to stammer an apology, but was interrupted by the odd boy.

"Don't worry, about it, I get that reaction a lot. Ikari-Harris Shinji, at your service, Horaki-sempai." he bowed and gave her a rakish grin, taking her hand and kissing it as he did so. Normally, she'd have blushed or tried to brush it off, but . . . he was there, the boy from her nightmares. Her weird dreams that tortured her at night. Her . . . was that ring glowing red?

On Shinji's left hand was a small silver ring with a white opal. Only, it wasn't white anymore; instead, it seemed to have a luminescent red filling it, glowing softly as he held her hand. Part of her wanted to faint, but she didn't. She simply nodded and allowed herself to be led out into the empty hall.

As the door closed behind them and they were alone, Shinji frowned, "Let me guess, you've been having strange dreams of demons and things at night, right?"

Hikari jumped, "H-how'd you . . . "

He grinned ruefully, "It tends to happen sometimes. I don't have time to properly explain it right now, but I can cover the basics after class today. Let's just say those things in your dreams aren't as imaginary as some people would like, and leave it at that for now; got to get to class after all . . . "

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The Harris scion sighed and glanced out the window again. Normally he enjoyed history, especially since there was always a hidden twist in the past, if you knew the truth about the real world, that is. However, this guy kept droning on and on about Second Impact. Shinji could have sworn he had repeated himself four times today.

Several seats to the left of him, he noticed Ayanami Rei doing the same, _Glad I'm not the only one who is this bored in the room . . . _

Suddenly his computer blinked out an IM: Are you the Pilot?

He blinked, and glanced behind him at two giggling girls, who waved at him. However, he also noticed that the geeky brunette in front of him was watching. He glanced again at the computer and rolled his eyes. A bit of a trick question isn't it?

He grinned as several people in the class started giving him weird looks. _I knew it . . ._

What?

I could say yes, but if I did, I could just be lying and trying to hog the glory. Or, I could say no, but my supposed involvement as a pilot might be top secret. Either way, you would never know if I was lying or telling the truth!

He hit Send and grinned at the confused whispering occurring around him, the teacher ignoring them for the most part. Suddenly, he felt a sudden glare at his back, and looked only to find a muscular, dark-haired boy glaring at his back.

Soon, the bell rang, and Shinji finally got up. Thinking that he could try and talk to Horaki-san during lunch, he looked around only to find the boy in front of him. "Hey, new kid, are you the pilot or not?"

"Suzuhara-san!" Hikari yelled at the boy, but he ignored her. When Shinji didn't answer, he reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt.

"Huh? You gonna answer me, punk?"

Shinji's eyes narrowed, "Why would it be any of your business, eh?"

The larger boy growled, "My sister was injured during that attack, THAT'S why it's my bus-" Shinji sucker punched him in the gut, getting him to let him down. He growled and looked up, but the smaller boy rolled to the side, grabbing his phone and making a call while he was at it.

"Hey, Mom, need a favor . . . Yeah, I've fine, but the sister of a new friend of mine is in the hospital because of that attack . . . That's what they told me, but you know the old bastard does what he wants . . . Family name is Suzuhara, not sure what her name is . . . Found her? Cool, can you . . . Yeah, you guessed it . . . Cool, thanks! Love you Mom!" He hung up, and grinned at the confused boy. "Your sister's name is Akane, right?"

When the boy nodded, Shinji's grin grew wider, "My family has connections in the medical business. They'll be looking into her health, no matter if I am at fault for it or not. Now, why don't we just calm down, relax, and try and get things settled down in a way that won't have me bringing out the three black belts I've already earned."

The boy paled, but before he could say anything, Rei stepped towards Shinji, "Ikari-san, NERV is calling us in."

The Third Child frowned, "Great, now what?" He turned towards the rest of the class and grinned goofily, "I have some business to take care of, so I'll be back later." As he walked out the door, he nodded to Hikari, "I'll try to find you after this is over with. I'll explain myself then, 'K Class-rep-san?"

Hikari could only nod in shocked silence.

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Next chapter: The fourth angel strikes! Hikari gets caught in the crossfire . . . and is that fanservice I see on the horizon? Stay tuned!


End file.
